On my walk to work, I pass by several types of trees. One of the more common ones is called the Flame of the Forest, and now that it is in bloom it is easy to see the reason for its moniker.(Right: Flame of the Forest)
The scientific name for the FotF is Delonix regia, and according to this site, it is native of Madagascar, and "discovered" by botanist Wenzel Bojer in 1820, who introduced it to the island nation of Mauritius. From Mauritius, it has been transplanted to the Malayan peninsula and other locations.
FotF belongs to the family Leguminosae (Caesalpinaceae), which is obvious to even amateur botanists if you see the bi-pinnately compound leaves. In Malaysia, it is a common planting alongside roads and car-parks. Since there are many species of trees similar to it in shape, size, and arrangement of leaves, it is not until it produces the dramatic display of bright-red flowers that one ascertains it as the Flame of the Forest. This latest blooming came after a period of daily rainshowers in the midst of what should be the dry season (musim kemarau).
(Left: Flowers and bi-pinnately compound leaves.)Of course, given its broad umbrella-shaped crown, the trees commonly have a car or two parked each one. If the Lord of the Rings had been made in Malaysia, Gollum would have been filmed proclaiming "My precious; my precious" over his car, not some magical ring!! In such a manner do the Malaysians pamper their precious precious cars.
The Flame of the Forest flower looks like the red version of the Frangipani, locally called Bunga Kubur (Graveyard Flower), as most Frangipani trees are found in and around graveyards.
ReplyDeleteP/s: Thanks for your comments in my blog.
Yes. We have a white Frangipani close to our house and the flowers are not only beautiful but very fragrant. My wife wanted to plant a pink Frangi in our front yard, but the neighbor said "No, you can't do that; those are graveyard trees!"
ReplyDeleteMay i know the places in Selangor where i can get this flowers?
Deletethere's nothing like link with graveyards . the tree like any other vegitation is the beautiful gift of nature . across India this lovely plant is found in abundance and is planted every where .
DeleteMay i know the place where i can get this flowers?
ReplyDeleteThere are many garden centers scattered around Petaling Jaya where flowers and trees are sold. Just look for them alongside the roads. I know of one very close to the TV3 HQ behind 1 Utama Mall. Take a drive through Damansara Utama and right as you are about to turn left onto that highway that goes by TV3, turn left onto the frontage road. There was a garden city there when I lived in PJ.
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